


The Ghost of You

by maleficstardustdragon



Category: Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26456902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maleficstardustdragon/pseuds/maleficstardustdragon
Summary: Joe's "girlfriend" is actually Ken, and Mimi ships it. Davis, however, is convinced Joe is a friend stealer. Otherwise, all is perfect until the parents find out. Add a lost soccer championship and Sam's birthday, and a mental breakdown is imminent. Ken faces deep despair as he withers into psychosis, withdrawing from everyone else but soon realizing he doesn't have to be powerless. He knows what he could do to feel powerful again. The relapse into the Digimon Emperor will surely solve all of his problems. It was a mistake to turn his back on his destiny.
Relationships: Ichijouji Ken/Motomiya Daisuke | Davis Motomiya, ichijouji ken/kido jou, tachikawa mimi/koushirou izumi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 12





	1. Mary Sue I Love You

“All plants are diploid dominant except for...”

“Bryophyta.”

“Right,” Joe turned a page in Ken’s textbook and looked over his notes, smiling softly, “Plants in bryophyta are anchored by rhizoids. What is their other function?”

“Water conduction.” 

Joe nodded, glancing to Ken and—His breath caught in his throat when his gaze met his. “K-Ken?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing?” Joe asked, heart hammering away.

“What does it look like I’m doing...? I’m listening?”

He’s staring at me, Joe thought, adjusting his glasses and clearing his throat. Why is he staring at me? “Right. Sorry. I... okay. What um...” He reached toward Ken’s notebook, but in the process knocked over his tea, crying out and pushing Ken’s laptop out of the way as the tea spilled across the notes. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” he exclaimed, hands trembling. Gomamon rushed over with napkins Joe grabbed, working to try to save the doomed notebook as best as he could.

Ken stared in silent horror as when Joe stood, an elbow knocked the laptop off the table and onto the tea that had accumulated on the floor. As the computer crashed into the floor, tears filled Joe’s eyes. Finally Ken screamed when the charger cable both burst into flames and fell into the tea. “Wormmon!”

“Wormmon?!” Joe asked. What did he mean WORMMON— and then he saw that Wormmon had been napping under the table. Near the cable. And now in the tea.  
While Ken dropped down to reach for Wormmon, Joe hurriedly unplugged the burning charger to avoid electrocuting Ken too.

Shards from the shattered screen sliced across Ken’s hands, but none of that mattered to him. He scooped Wormmon up into his arms and sat on the floor, hugging him to his chest as the dazed digimon murmured, “I’m okay...” 

When Ken caught his breath, his gaze landed on the computer. Slowly he turned to Joe.

“I’m sorry. Ken. I’m... so sorry. I’ll... pay for it, I... Maybe Izzy can fix it. Y-yeah, he can fix anything!” Joe stammered, carefully picking the laptop up. “D-don’t move, there’s a lot of glass—Ken! You’re bleeding!”

Ken returned to his feet, gingerly setting Wormmon in the chair. He was quiet as he grabbed his laptop bag and packed the computer and textbook up.

Joe was more mortified by the second, continuously apologizing, and kneeling beside Wormmon. “Are you okay? I’m really sorry, I...”

“I’ve had worse.” remarked Wormmon. “Ken? Did you get hurt?” He whimpered when he spotted the ribbons of blood slipping down Ken’s hands.

“I’m fine.” Ken snapped. “We’re going home.” He shouldered his laptop case strap and picked up Wormmon, who settled into the crook of an arm.

“W-wait!” Joe exclaimed, rushing forward and grabbing Ken’s wrist. “There’s still glass in your hand, just let me...”

Ken turned back to him, watching as Joe looked over the wounds.

“Will you please sit down? I have tweezers somewhere.”

Ken only acquiesced because he knew Wormmon would feel better. As Ken sat and waited, Wormmon conveyed his gratitude by nuzzling against him. Soon Joe returned to the room with disinfectant and tweezers. Ken cooperated, covering Wormmon’s eyes with his free hand. He wouldn’t like to see this as Joe picked the fragments out carefully with one hand, as the other held Ken’s in place... Ken faintly smirked.

Joe’s eyes flickered up to check if he was hurting Ken—and halted when he caught the way Ken was gazing upon their hands. He dropped the tweezers onto Wormmon’s head. “Ow!”

“Sorry!” Joe exclaimed, patting Wormmon as Ken remarked, “I would appreciate it if you quit assaulting my digimon.”

Joe nodded, crimson blossoming across his face; he wrapped a bandage around Ken’s hand gently. 

“It’s okay, Joe. Thank you.” Ken said as Joe moved to tending to the other hand.

Soon they brought the computer to Izzy, who was rightfully stunned as he surveyed the damage. “Ken... You just bought it yesterday...”

“Yesterday?!” Joe sighed, bringing his hands to his face in horror.

“I gave him a coupon... I’ll see what I can do. Why is it shattered AND wet?” Izzy asked, trying to dry it.

Joe was silent until Izzy looked to him. “It was an accident...”

Ken stated, “If it can be repaired, I’ll need a new charger. Mine caught on fire... and electrocuted Wormmon.”

Mimi blinked at this, having stepped in with the strawberry cupcakes she had made. “Well why did you do that!”

Joe sunk down lower in his seat.

Wormmon assured Ken, “Really, I’m fine, Ken-chan!! Oohh, cupcakes~”

Ken smiled, releasing Wormmon from his hug. He told Joe, “Don’t worry about it. It’s alright.”

“I’ll replace the screen and see how bad the internal damage is.” Izzy said, accepting a pink cupcake after Mimi had given one to Wormmon.

Joe wanted to disappear, but at least he had a cupcake. Mimi gave him a hug and asked, “So when are you going to tell me about your girlfriend?”

He choked on the cupcake, cringing and looking away. “Wh-what? Oh. My. My girlfriend?”

Ken looked up from his phone. “You have a girlfriend?” This was news to him.

Joe laughed. “Ha. Haha... ha...”

“What’s she like?” Mimi asked, grinning excitedly.

He swallowed and took a moment to steady his breath. He would look like a fool if he admitted “she” was imaginary. But what could be done now? He was trapped. “She’s... extremely intelligent. Talented in absolutely anything, everything... She’s... really nice, even when I don’t deserve it and break things... Beautiful... um. Radiant...”

He glanced back and forth between Mimi and Ken as he spoke, becoming increasingly red and horrified. This was going to freak Ken out, and he would lose this new friend, all over this silly fantasy that had gotten out of hand. He groaned when it dawned on him if he hadn’t been looking at Ken during the answer, he could have continued to keep it all to himself. 

“Aww! What color’s her hair? Is she blonde?” Mimi asked. 

“Idon’tknow.” 

“How do you not know?”

“Purple!” he blurted out. “Blue? Violet! I’m not... I’m not sure!” He was definitely fearful of glancing to Ken again... yet did so when hearing his voice.

“Indigo?” Ken diverted his gaze, smiling softly.

“O-okay, sure, indigo! It’s darker inside... blue-er in sunlight I guess.”

Mimi exclaimed, “Wow! She sounds so cute!”

Before she could interrogate him further, Joe pretended he had to go call his mom.

“I hope we can meet her soon!” Mimi said.

Izzy stared at Ken. “Right... Me too.” Well now he knew why Joe was nervous enough to destroy a computer. “What do you think about her, Ken?” he asked while resuming the disassembly of the laptop.

“I think she’s very fond of Joe. She doesn’t mean to make him nervous.”

In the hall Joe’s panic was melting into joy as he listened.

Ken continued, “She loves how brilliant he is; it’s very attractive. He’s so devoted to his ambition. He’s wonderful.”

Over the coming days, neither of them could stop smiling. Joe felt as though spending his life studying for exams was perfectly fine, if Ken were near, reading his books too. 

Joe hardly slept as more deadlines loomed over head, which gave him the opportunity to watch Ken sleeping, contemplating what was going on. Was he really gay? Or did he just like that Ken was extraordinarily smart? Would he feel the same if Ken were a girl instead? He wasn’t sure. He wanted to think yes—he wasn’t shallow like that. Yet he did think it made him more comfortable that Ken was a boy; he was more accustomed to being around them than girls, after all.  
It was a lot to think through, and he decided it didn’t really matter what it meant. The fact of the matter was Ken made him happy. Their time together studying was peaceful and fulfilling. 

When they went to get money to Izzy to help with the computer parts he had replaced, Izzy smiled upon realizing how much calmer Joe was by now.

Joe was actively refusing to provide anymore clues, and he wondered how much Mimi might already suspect by watching them look at each other.

“How’s your girlfriend?” she asked when the four of them went to an ice cream shop. 

“Fine.” Joe said casually, joining the table with his chocolate chip shake.

“Have you gotten to see her lately?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Have you kissed her?”

Finally Joe was mortified again. Why would she ask something like that?!

Mimi giggled at him. “I’ll take that as a no?”

“I don’t think he has.” Ken said. “Would you like to, Joe?” He smiled innocently.

“Okay guys. Leave him alone.” Izzy shook his head. At this rate Joe would have a heart attack. He gave Joe an apologetic look while taking a bite of rum raisin.

Mimi patted Joe’s arm. “It’s just not fair that Ken knows her and we don’t! Next Friday let’s all do something fun together!” She took a picture of her mango banana ice cream with sprinkles before taking a bite.

“Yeah, let’s do that, except make it Saturday,” Ken said, “I have a soccer game Friday night.”

“Ohh, I want to go! Let’s go, Izzy!” Mimi said.

“Sure. I support you, Ken.” Izzy said warmly. Ken had come such a long way from his dark past. He was doing so well now, and it was nice to see Joe happy. He hoped Ken interpreted the underlying connotation— it made no difference to him if the two were gay.

Mimi asked, “Joe will you go get me napkins? I’m sticky.”

Once he stepped away, she grinned to Ken. “So you like older boys?”

Before he could respond, Joe returned with napkins, and in an attempt to make them forget planning for Saturday, remarked, “It must be nice to have time to run around and kick. I can’t be at his game then do something Saturday. Neither can Ken; he has an academic team match Monday.”

“When have I ever lost a quiz bowl game? I’ll be fine.” said Academic Team Captain Ichijouji between bites of mint.

“I know what we could do Saturday!” Mimi said brightly. “Let’s go skating!”

“Oh, yes, I love skating!” Ken exclaimed, and Joe knew he couldn’t get out of it now. Not when Ken was excited.

“I don’t mind.” Izzy said. 

“Yay! Joooee do you know how to roller skate?” Mimi inquired.

“I... definitely know how. Of course.” Why did I say that? Why???

On the walk to Ken’s home, instead of confessing no he couldn’t do anything remotely athletic, he confessed, “I don’t really have a girlfriend.”

Ken’s laughter softened the dread of the skating. (But oh god he’s going to laugh at me when I fall over...) “Oh? Would you rather have a boyfriend?” When he unlocked the door and confirmed his parents were gone, he reached for Joe’s hand, lifting it to his lips. Once he released it, Joe embraced him.

“Ken! You’re home!!” Wormmon exclaimed from the staircase, and Ken rushed up to hug him next. “I missed you so much!”

“What did you do today?” Ken asked.

“Waited for you to get back.”

Watching the two of them was a spiritual experience. Joe couldn’t believe how absolutely adorable they were. 

Wormmon said brightly, “I love you!”

“I love you too, Wormmon!”

Gomamon’s head popped out of Joe’s backpack. He climbed up onto Joe’s shoulder as he followed into Ken’s room, greeting, “Hi, Wormmon!”

“Are you going to my chess game tomorrow?” Ken soon inquired.

Over at the desk Joe looked up from his book. Across the room Ken laid in bed with a Gameboy Advance SP in his hands and Wormmon lounging on him.

“You have chess tomorrow?” Joe didn’t understand it... how Ken could score perfectly on everything while having soccer and chess and quiz bowl and orchestra. “I’ll try.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to.” Mary Sue— I mean Ken—shrugged. 

“I do want to.” Joe said softly.

Ken smiled at this. He didn’t expect to interfere with all of Joe’s study time, but he did enjoy his attention.

“Maybe you could teach me chess.” Joe said.

“I would like that.”

On Friday Joe found himself entirely out of place at the soccer game, notebook on his thigh and pen in his hand. He sat quietly, creating statistical graphs.

“Joe! Hey! Hey, Joe!” Davis exclaimed, jumping over seats to join him in the front. “I didn’t know you liked soccer! Haha, cool!”

“Oh. I don’t.” He closed his notebook, but Davis had already caught sight of the numbers.

“You’re doing homework? Here? Seriously?” Davis shook his head and sighed. He grabbed the notebook, flipping through until he reached the most recent page. He blinked at it, trying to decipher what it could be for… Then glancing up in time to watch Ken score another goal, Davis jumped up, throwing the notebook down to hop up and down and flail. 

“Oh, was that a touchdown?” Joe retrieved his notebook, and Davis glanced to him… as he added the numbers. Then Joe’s gaze returned fondly to Ken. 

Davis took it upon himself to dash to the edge of the field and yell out his latest cheer. “ICHIJOUJI KEN—uh…” As Ken glanced over, Davis called out (still chanting), “WHAT RHYMES WITH KEN?”

“Erythro…my…cin??” Ken suggested.

“ICHIJOUJI KEN! ERYTHROMYCIN! I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! HE’LL KICK YOUR SORRY ASS! HE’S ALSO GOOD AT MATH! YES!! GO KEN!!! ICHIJOUJI KEN! WHAT RHYMES WITH KEN! ERTHROMYCIN! WWOOOOO GO KEN!” Davis launched himself into a cartwheel that quickly collapsed. He hit the ground hard as someone yelled out, “Get off the field!”

“Where’d Mimi go?” he asked as he returned to Joe’s side. “I thought Izzy and her were going to be here.”

“They were. I don’t know.” Joe shrugged.

Although he didn’t mention it, Davis knew Joe had been being around Ken a lot lately… And now the way he was looking at him was too weird. Was he being replaced?

No. He couldn’t be. Ken wouldn’t do that… would he? His best friend forever? Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that Joe was a friend stealer. Which honestly made zero sense; Joe had never been mean to anyone in his life. 

“It’s an antibiotic.” Joe remarked.

“What?”

“Erythromycin. It’s an antibiotic used to treat infections caused by gram-positive bacteria.”

“Well DUH, Joe! Obviously. What, you think I’m stupid or something?” Davis asked before getting hit in the head by a soccer ball and falling over as it bounced off.

Ken dashed over to retrieve it, blinking at Davis. “Uh. Are you okay?” he asked, helping him up.

“I might need some eletromyclin for my grand-positive bacteria infection!” Davis answered, brandishing a cut on his arm.

“You’re being weirder than usual…” Ken observed. He threw the ball to someone else.

“Do you want to teach me some science, Ken?!” Davis asked, grabbing his wrist.

“What is wrong with you??”

“Science is my passion!”

Ken broke away and ran off to rejoin his team. 

“What is it you’re wanting to learn?” Joe asked, smiling softly. “I could show you the gram staining? It’s a lot of fun. What you do is once you prepare the slide with your bacteria by heat fixing it, you add the violet drops, wash it in water, then you add the iodine solution-- ”

“School’s lame as hell.” Davis answered then abandoned Joe to bother Kari.

That was strange… And hurtful… I’m not Ken, but there’s plenty I could teach Davis too… Why didn’t he want to hear about gram staining? Joe glumly thought before returning his attention to Ken as the wind elegantly swept through his hair.

“I think your friend Davis is mad at me.” Joe told Ken in the morning.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I’ve barely ever spoken to him, so I don’t know.” 

“That’s odd. I wouldn’t worry about it though.” Ken came to sit beside him, wrapping Joe in half a hug as the other hand stroked Gomamon’s fur. “I can ask him about it if you want.”

“No! No thanks. Don’t… don’t do that.” Joe pleaded. “I don’t like confrontation!” He moved Gomamon off his lap and stood, grabbing a backpack to take. “Where’s my epipen…”

“I have one with me.” Ken stated.

“Why?”

“For you.”

Joe found his digivice and opened the portal for Gomamon to go into the digital world and play with Wormmon while they were out without them. 

Then, glancing back to Ken, he smiled while asking, “Really? You bought an epipen to be prepared for if I need it?”

“Yes.”

The flustered older boy resumed preparing his backpack. He needed his inhaler too. And bandaids… Yes, he’d better bring bandaids and disinfectant. Gauze. Medical tape. Cortizone. Neosporin.

“Are you bringing a tourniquet too?” Ken teased.

“Good thinking. Don’t tempt me…”

Despite the time spent on Joe’s risk analysis and Ken’s hair, they arrived at the skating rink before Mimi and Izzy, and when Mimi commented on this, Ken told her: “If you’re on time, you’re late.”

As they entered and went to pay, Mimi murmured to Izzy, “They’re so cute!”

Joe acquired roller skates… and paled when Ken paid extra for roller blades. Of course. Of course he would be good at this. Why wouldn’t he be? As Ken changed into the roller blades, Joe wondered how anyone could even stand on those without falling over. 

“What?”

“Nothing.” Joe sat to get the roller skates on. Ken took Joe’s backpack for him and zipped away to a locker.

Mimi and Izzy opted for regular roller skates too—and Izzy knelt to fix the tangled lacing on Mimi’s.

Joe uneasily stood, beginning to creep across the carpet with his arms flapping every few seconds to try to steady himself as he alternated between scooting a foot or stepping slowly. Ken returned to him and took the shoes he held. In an instant he was at the locker again, and Joe eventually caught up. This was a bad idea.

Ken secured the locker and turned to smile to Joe. As Mimi approached with ease to deposit her boots and purse into a locker, Joe was relieved to find Izzy was not moving smoothly either, hand extended to a wall for support as he carefully glided over the carpet. He did not appear as stressed as Joe though. Although he wasn’t moving well, he was glad to be here with Mimi and their friends, so Joe decided he would try to have a better attitude.

“Oh! Let’s take a picture for MySpace!” Mimi exclaimed. They gathered around for her to snap a photo before she returned the camera to her purse.

Ken jumped onto the rink, and a moment later he was skating backwards as Mimi followed him, spinning around every few seconds whilst Joe practiced moving on the carpet and Izzy awkwardly shuffled at the edge of the rink by the railing which he grabbed frequently when he lost his balance from watching Mimi instead of his feet.

Joe tried to crossover onto the wood, but the transition resulted in a foot slipping out from under him. When he looked up following his fall, Ken had rushed over to take his hands to help him return to his feet. “I can’t…”

“You can. Didn’t you already tell me you can?” Ken smirked. “Come on. You can do it, I promise.” 

Joe clung to his arm as he tried to follow along beside him in slow glides. When he lost balance he let go to avoid dragging Ken down too, but Ken managed to catch him in time. “How do I stop?!” Joe asked when he finally made a small amount of progress. 

“Keep going. You can grab the railing when you get there to stop and practice over there with Izzy.”

When Joe made it to the railing he sighed in relief, grasping it in desperation and carefully turning to look at Izzy as he progressed from the railing into a steadier speed alongside the wall. 

Ken stopped by after another loop, taking another moment to supervise Joe. “You’re doing better! And you aren’t bleeding, see? You already fell down, so you got that out of the way early. It was a good fall too.”

“A good fall? What on earth is a good fall?”

“When you land without hurting yourself. You don’t want to land on your arm or your head.” Ken explained. “Ah! Izzy is about to catch up with Mimi. He—oh no!” Izzy tripped himself, and Mimi came to a stop to help him up.

“I need a break.” Joe mumbled, and Ken helped him get back to the carpet and to a seat. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I didn’t come here to race you.” Ken smiled, sitting beside him.

“How are you so good at everything in the world?” he asked Mary Sue—I mean, Ken.

Ken shrugged. “I would rather we do something you like to do. I love skating, but you don’t.”

“I’m not good at things… but I’ll try my best.” Joe said, fighting through the fear to instead return to try again with Ken following alongside him and trying to provide tips for Joe to get a feel for this.

After five more minutes, Joe was beginning to have fun. This did feel good once he reached a normal speed. Turning was scary, but Ken helped him develop a technique to simply… hit a wall to stop in order to turn. 

But then some brat dashed in front of Joe, startling him and causing a wipeout that took multiple seconds and included tripping Ken.

“You really are a disaster zone.” Ken rose, and Izzy and Mimi approached to check on them. 

“I’m… okay… I think… I’m just going to watch for a bit.” Joe told them as Ken guided him to a bench.

“You two go ahead.” Ken told Izzy and Mimi. In the darkened corner he slipped his fingers between Joe’s. “You’re sure you’re fine?”

“Yeah.” Joe nodded, leaning against him.

“I’ll go tell the manager about that kid.” Ken offered.

“Nooo! You don’t have to! Really. Don’t do that.” Joe pleaded, and Ken laughed. 

“Hey, if we go upstairs we can request songs.” Ken told him. 

“Ken, I am absolutely not going up the stairs in these.”

“I understand!” Ken went to retrieve Joe’s shoes. Once he changed, the two headed to a staircase. 

“I don’t know what song to ask for.” Joe informed him; however, they found out no one was working up there anyway; the radio was playing instead.   
Joe headed back to the staircase but stopped when Ken spoke his name. “Yes?” He turned, and in that moment Ken abruptly brushed his lips over his. This caused Joe’s knees to collapse under him, and he fell down the stairs and into a fuse box. He cried out in pain as he collided with it, and the power to the building vanished. Darkness descended over them, and Joe hit the floor.

Ken lowered, moving to straddle Joe’s hips and fold over him for a kiss.

Heart racing frantically, Joe murmured an, “Oh, god…” into Ken’s mouth as he lifted a hand to Ken’s shoulder blade, pulling him closer against him then slipping the hand into his hair.

When Ken noticed the sounds of a generator beginning to restore power and footsteps approaching, he stood, pulling Joe with him in time to act normal as a staff member came to look at the fuse box panels.

“Inhaler… please,” Joe murmured, and Ken helped him to the nearest seat before skating off to the locker in a blur of violet.

“Oh my goodness!” Mimi exclaimed, rolling over, “What happened?!”

“I… tripped and… fell into a badly placed… fuse box on the wall.” Joe explained as he tried to catch his breath, face a vivid crimson. “B-bad luck… wasn’t even… wearing the… skates anymore.” When Ken returned with the inhaler, he nodded to convey his gratitude while Ken touched his shoulder gently.

Once it was apparent Joe would be fine, Mimi went to play the arcade games, amassing tickets she would exchange for candy. “Izzy!” she called out, and he hurried over to find her pouting at a claw machine. “I reeeally want the eevee! It’s so cute and happy. I need it. Can you get it? Pretty please? Pretty please with ice cream and sprinkles and whipped cream and chocolate chips?” She enveloped him in a hug. He would spend the next hour on this horrible machine, persisting until the eevee plushie was hers. 

Ken sat with Joe, who was vibrating with anxiety. 

“Your hands are shaking.” Ken quietly pointed out.

“Uh huh.”

“I’m sorry. I thought you would like to be kissed.” Ken looked away, unsure how to interpret this. Did Joe not like him like that after all?

“I, I did. I’m just. I don’t know. Nervous. It hits me and I don’t know what to do with it.” Joe reached to lay a hand over Ken’s. “Nonetheless, you take my breath away.”

This helped Ken to smile again. “I’m sorry about that part too.”

“Don’t be. I’m fine.” Joe squeezed his hand, and Ken turned his over to grasp Joe’s.

“Would you feel better if I win you a plush too?” Ken inquired, glancing to Izzy dropping another quarter into the Pokemon plushie claw game.

“That’s not necessary.” Joe said and snuggled against him. They relaxed here for a while until Joe told him he was ready to practice some more skating. Hand in hand, Ken focused on safely guiding him.

The colored lights moving across the floor were a dangerous distraction, but Joe managed to keep himself from falling over again, and once that fear was farther behind him, he found himself enjoying this. He felt lighter and freer. Maybe through this he could imagine how it feels to be athletic like Ken! Okay maybe not—but as close as he was going to get.

“Is this what soccer feels like?” he asked.

“No, but it’s what kissing you feels like.” Ken answered.

A different song cut through the air—obnoxious and triumphant. “I DID IT!” Izzy exclaimed, grabbing the eevee to press into Mimi’s hands.

“Oh! Yay! Thank you!” Mimi hugged her eevee and her Izumi. What a relief—it had been his last quarter. They returned to the rink, and by the time they caught up with Joe and Ken, an announcement came over the speakers that the floor had to be cleared for couples only.

A wave of anxiety rushed over Joe when Ken let go of his hand and headed to the carpet. What? Why would he do that? Mimi and Izzy remained on the floor, gliding through the loop. Joe awkwardly made his way to where Ken was sitting.

“U-uhm Ken? Kind of getting… confused… I mean, you just kissed me, and now…”

Ken lifted his gaze, and the somber hue it had taken on sent another surge of heated fear through Joe’s head. Joe looked away and sat.

“This isn’t something we can be very open about.” Ken explained. He didn’t mind some of the hand holding; it wasn’t like anyone here really knew him. But he wasn’t going to flaunt it.

Looking over the couples, Joe knew he was right. All of the others were male and female. His heart was crumbling. “Oh.” 

“I don’t mean it to hurt your feelings.” Ken said, softer now as he realized the impact of his words.

“I know… It’s not your fault. You’re right.” It would be a difficult situation to navigate. Joe didn’t care anymore who knew, but that obviously wasn’t the case for Ken.  
Ken stated, “Mimi and Izzy know. And that’s fine. I just…”

“It’s okay.” Joe assured him, briefly touching his hand.

Ken reached to hold it. “No one’s going to notice this. But they would question the couples’ skate.”

“Yeah. I understand. If you need it to be less apparent, I’ll leave it up to you who you want to know.” Joe said. Yet he suspected it wouldn’t stay hidden as long as Ken would like. “Whatever you need to feel safe.”

“Thank you. You are an incredible blessing. Thank you for being here.”

“There’s no where I would rather be than with you.”


	2. Davis to the Rescue

The first thing Davis felt the next day when he saw Mimi's photo on MySpace was jealousy. He would have loved to have gone skating with Ken--so why hadn't he been invited? This disappointment was followed by anger, because he could see Ken was online. He quickly sent him a message: Where the hell r u? Ive been waiting here ALL DAY! What the hell am I suppose to do in the library all day?!

As Ken looked over the message, he groaned. He had entirely forgotten he was supposed to tutor Davis in math today... Glancing to the time, he knew he couldn't make it. The library would be closing soon.

"What's wrong, Ken-chan?" Wormmon asked, approaching Ken's desk.

"Oh, it's Davis... I had planned to help him with the math class he's failing." Ken said while he typed out a reply: I'm sorry. If you come by my apartment, I would be happy to help you here.

Davis sent back: It's too late now! I'm hungry! I'm going home! I guess I'll just fail this stupid algebra class again!

I guess you will, Ken typed but backspaced through. He repeated: I'm sorry.

"Look, Wormmon, I made a little sprite gif of you for my MySpace!" Ken said as his digimon came to climb up the desk and look at the screen.

This made Wormmon smile ^_^, and Ken reached to tickle his antennae, which caused him to roll over like a cat as he giggled.

When Joe arrived, his heart warmed at the sight of Ken tickling and petting Wormmon. They were so sweet.

"Hey," Joe went to pat Wormmon's head, and the digimon asked for a hug. Joe laughed and lifted him into his arms. "Alright." As he hugged him to his chest, Ken stood and pressed a soft kiss to Joe’s lips which colored his face a charming pink.

Wormmon adored all the affection he could get, due to the time Ken had spent being cruel.

Ken, recalling the fuse box incident, asked, "Are you hurt from your fall yesterday?"

"Sore but nothing major. Just some bruising," Joe answered, cuddling Wormmon another moment before setting him on the desk.

Meanwhile, as Davis stomped out of the library and headed to Ken's house, he wondered what he could do to possibly coerce him into doing the work for him instead of trying to teach him. Sure, Ken was the only one with the patience to teach him math, but Davis hated every minute of it. Math was stupid.

Inside, Mrs. Ichijouji greeted him, and Davis looked around at everything in the kitchen as she told him Ken was upstairs. Slowly he crept up the stairs, thinking it would be funny to try to scare Ken. Once he was in front of the door, he abruptly barged in.

In an instant Ken jumped off the bed and grabbed a book, opening it to feign normalcy.

"Oh, you have time yet again for him, but you can't tutor me?!" Davis asked.

"I told you I'm sorry! I forgot!"

"And why the hell didn't you ask ME to go skating? This whole new best friend thing is bullshit! I will NOT be replaced, Ken! This nerd has got to go!"

"Maybe this nerd should." Joe said as he sat up. "Ken... You're wonderful... My life is so much better with you in it, but I can't come between you and Davis..."

Ken's eyes widened. No. No, no, no. He looked back to Davis, eyes narrowing as he came to stand between him and Joe. "Get out. And don't ever bother Joe again."

"Your mom said I can stay. She's making--"

"And I said get out!" Ken shoved him out and slammed the door. He locked it and turned to a sad looking Joe.

"I didn't think he would be so jealous. Is he..."

Ken answered, "He is the stupidest dumbass I know. Please ignore him." Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me.

"Hey!" Davis exclaimed, rattling the door, "I need math help! KEN! A squared plus b squared equals c squared--WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEEEAN?"

Joe said on his way out, "Talk to your friend. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Davis came in before Ken could close the door again, shoving a textbook into his face.

Ken threw the book across the room. "You want him to leave me? Is that what you want? Is that what will make you happy?"

Davis had no clue what he was talking about. He simply missed doing fun things with Ken. "What? You're being weird, man."

Ken took a moment to walk around in circles. Davis quietly stared, and eventually Ken was ready to delve into the math, patiently talking through it and finding notes to use in teaching.

"This isn't your writing." Davis noticed. "It's all neat and legible."

Ken nodded; he thought too quickly for a pencil to keep up. Everything in his life was meticulous except his handwriting. It was why his homework was typewritten. "They're Sam's."

Davis' heart sunk, but he smiled. "Do you still think about him a lot?"

"Every day."

"So he was like really good at math too?"

"Yes. Really good at everything, but his specialties were languages, linguistics, and etymology. My skills in those areas are nowhere near Sam's." Ken said, although he did fluently speak English, Korean, Mandarin, and German.

"It must be weird to now be older than he was, huh?"

"..."

"Why have you been acting weird lately?" Davis asked at some point when he needed a break from the tutoring.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know... Something's wrong. Something you're afraid of."

"I think you should go home."

When Ken next saw Joe by lingering outside of his class, he apologized for the Davis drama. (Teachers felt concerned by spotting Ken in this corridor, fearing he had skipped another grade with no warning to them to prepare.)

"The first thing I want is you; the last thing I want is to come between you and your friend." Joe told him.

"He's just aggravated I haven't been paying any attention to him. It's my fault, not yours or his. I can fix it. Really."

"Alright. Oh, I forgot to turn this paper in..."

Ken trailed behind as Joe stepped back into the room to set an assignment on the teacher's desk. With the teacher having left a moment ago, the room was empty. Ken roamed around, looking at posters on the walls and disappearing into a backroom.

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria Davis was wondering where Ken was. He supposed he didn't need him here to plan which movies they would watch next weekend.

"Is Ken's next soccer game still Friday?" Kari asked.

"Oh, I'm not sure. It might be Saturday. I'll go look for him and ask!" Davis went to check the library first, then he walked through the rest of the school. I'd better start with the science rooms, he thought. On the way there, something peculiar caught his attention--his heart was racing, for no reason. Had the jogress bond been triggered? Was Ken in danger, and that was why their hearts were synchronizing? He had to hurry now! Did he need to stop by a computer and retrieve Veemon? There was no time for that!

"Hey!" He ran after a teacher, "Hey! Have you see Ken? Or Joe?"

"Kido Jou? He was leaving room 402."

"He might be with Ken. Please, I need help! He's in trouble!" Davis exclaimed as he ran off. The teacher followed, trying to ask what kind of trouble, but Davis kept running. He dashed into the empty classroom and spotted another door toward the back, rushing to pull it open.

In the backroom Ken and Joe were wrapped around each other with Joe seated with Ken in his lap. Ken slipped his tongue past his lips, heart thundering in his head. Joe parted his teeth eagerly, captivated by his taste and by the grind--

"To the principal's office! Both of you! NOW!" exclaimed the teacher.

First they froze, then as Ken stood, Joe reached for his glasses Ken had lifted off his face to place on the table.

The look Ken sent Davis' way brought chills over his skin. Ken’s heart continued to pound, this time with fear. Absolute mortification.

Joe wasn't quite as horrified as Ken, but he was definitely upset, fumbling through apologies as Ken silently fumed. There was an aspect of fear which Joe was missing--his parents already knew about Ken.

As this teacher guided them to the office... Davis chose another route to get back to the cafeteria.

Ken and Joe were seated in the principal's office, and the teacher left to locate said principal and call their parents.

Alone once more, silence hung between them. Joe stared at the floor while Ken's gaze settled on a wall.

When Ken spoke again, it was to say, "I don't want to be without you."

"W-why would you be without me?" Joe asked, turning his face to him.

"I NEVER wanted my parents to know..."

"You haven't... told them? Mine already know... They don't understand it, but they don't really care..." Or rather, they didn't. But now, with it affecting school... Well, at least he was graduating soon. He could point that out that they wouldn’t be distracting each other at school for much longer. "But Ken, your mom's so nice. It'll be fine."

"No, it won't! It won't!" Ken's voice cracked with emotion and his chest tightened. He brought his elbows to his knees and face into his hands.

Joe stood, stepping over to him and laying a hand on his shoulder, telling him gently, “I love you.”

When he lifted his gaze to him, tears slipped down Ken’s face. “Then lie. Lie for me.”

“I can’t. You know I… I can’t.”


	3. Hey, Hey, You, You, I Could be Your Girlfriend (I Think You Need a New One)

Joe scrambled out to catch up with Ken as he strutted out of the principal's office. "What are you doing?! Hey!"

Ken turned to him after the sidelong gaze he'd sent a secretary's way had dared her to say a damn thing to him. "I'm not waiting there. Come on." he told Joe. The older boy followed along to Ken's locker, watching him grab his phone, digivice, wallet, and slam the door.

"You can't just... leave school in the middle of the day..." Joe murmured. 

"Are you going with me or not?" Ken demanded, turning the phone off.

Joe's heart sunk at the sight of remnant tears in Ken's eyelashes. "Where are we going?" The Digital World? The library? The beach?

"I don't know. Somewhere. Anywhere."

They managed to escape, and Ken's roaming resulted in embarking on a mountain trail where they could enjoy some peace among sakura trees away from the city. Joe knew they needed to discuss the present issue of his parents, yet he couldn't bring himself to mention it again when Ken's mood was approaching normalcy with his hand in his and a smile trying to manifest.

When he worried his asthma would act up if they didn't take a break, Joe found a nice place to sit against a tree; however, a majestic overlook of the valley could scarcely hold his attention once Ken joined him a moment later.

He told Ken, "Your beauty... must be a vertical asymptote, because the limit does not exist."

Ken was both flattered and jealous he hadn't thought of that first. He replied, "But as we approach x=0 from the left or the right, f(x) becomes arbitrarily negative or arbitrarily positive respectively... How would that factor into your comparison?"

"God, Ken, I'm barely passing calculus. I don't know. You tell me."

This helped to restore his smile, and as Ken laughed Joe leaned in to gently kiss him.

"Do you have a notebook?" 

"Probably? Why?" 

Ken rifled through Joe's bag to find one. "We have to get your calculus grade up, so pay attention. For each problem you solve, you may kiss me. Will that motivate you?"

Yes, Ken was definitely feeling better.

~~ Months ago ~~

Joe really didn't have time for this, and he didn't know why on earth Taichi insisted on dragging him here. The building vibrated, and Joe was already tired of being here--and Yamato's band had not even hit the stage yet.

Backstage he observed as Tai opened another beer. He offered it to Joe, who uncomfortably waved a dismissive hand. "You need to stop."

"Fuuck thaat," Tai said, "I--" he blinked as Joe walked off to go look for water to bring him.

Matt shrugged, tuning a guitar as Tai picked up the phone Joe had left behind.

"Dude. Dude. Yamato. Oh my god. Dude."

"What?"

Tai laughed and laughed. "There's a contact name... That's.. That's just GIRLFRIEND."

"Since when does he have a girlfriend?"

"Right?" Tai's laughter continued as he spilled some beer. "You know what would be fucking hilarious?"

"What?" 

The giggling Tai took a moment to continue messing with the phone. He edited contact names to set Girlfriend as Ichijouji Ken's number and Ken's name with Girlfriend's number. 

"What are you doing?" Joe asked as he rounded a corner.

Tai dropped the phone back onto a table. "NOTHING!! So Joe are you seeing anyone?"

"Like... a therapist? Or... hallucinations?" Fortunately Matt's band was about to be up. Joe took his phone and wandered away.

When Tai told Matt what he had done, he inquired, "Why... Ken?"

"Because they're nerds?" Tai shrugged. Made sense to him.

It was a long evening for Joe, and an especially confusing one when he found his messages from his girlfriend weren't on his phone anymore. He didn't remember deleting them. Weird. 'You're so cute' he sent to Carly.

When his phone vibrated across the room, Ken asked Wormmon to watch his MMO at the computer desk as he went to check it. The text came as a strange surprise.

"What is it, Ken-chan?"

"Joe... thinks I'm... cute?" How was he supposed to take this? 

"Of course you're cute! You're cute and beautiful and smart!" Wormmon said brightly. "You're my favorite!!"

"Thanks..." Ken sat, continuing to stare at his phone. Joe... He barely ever spoke to Joe. Where was this coming from? Was it some stupid joke? No, Joe wasn't like that. He wasn't cruel. So why would he send something like this? And why... the longer he thought about it... did it feel so different than when Yolei said such things?

Why did he NOT want this to be a joke?

Slowly he entered a reply. 'You look nice too. How have you been?'

'I'm alright. Drowning in test prep books. The usual. Except now I have a headache from my friend forcing me to go see another friend's band. How have things been for you?'

'I had a soccer game today. Now I'm relaxing by dominating an online game.'

'I didn't know you played soccer!'

Ken raised an eyebrow. How did anyone not know he was a soccer champion? Oh well. 'Yes, I've played a while. Have you always liked me?'

What a weird question! Joe had been certain Carly knew he liked her! 'Well yes, you're very smart and charming.'

"He thinks I'm charming!" he excitedly told Wormmon. (Of course I'm very smart--how redundant.) 

Joe sent another line, 'You're fun ^_^"

"Wormmon! I'M fun!"

"You're lots of fun!" Wormmon replied.

'I appreciate your assessment. Please tell me more.'

'You're so pretty! :D'

Ken was feeling great--even better when Joe expressed the need for math help.

'You've come to the right person. Send me pictures of the problems and I will guide you through different techniques. We'll find a way that works for you.'

'That would be incredible. Thank you so much. You're the best, my dear.'


	4. Joe-lene

"Funny story about when we first went out--I didn't know it would be you." Joe remarked. 

Darkness had fallen over the sakura grove for some time now, but Ken couldn't bring himself to go home yet, although he did have a plan for responding to his parents--he would deny everything and try to frame it that those teachers were sabotaging him because they were jealous of his superior intellect.

"What?"

"Yeah, there was a girl I didn't tell you about--I didn't feel it mattered enough to mention, since she broke up with me. But I thought she was you and so... Yeah, but then I went along with it... Glad I did, of course!"

"What?"

"Then the girlfriend rumors persisted, and I went along with that too."

"Please explain..."

"Which part?"

"All of it?"

"Alright so, Tai was messing with my phone..." Joe began to explain the whole situation on the way back into town. Ken listened intently, quiet throughout the story as he absorbed it. It was a bizarre one, and he wondered what all Carly had said under his name... 

"If the texts from me were showing up as hers, and hers as mine... What exactly did she say to you... That you thought I was saying?" 

"It doesn't matter."

"But I want to know."

"You really don't."

Ken was silent again, considering the first date with this new insight. Joe was thinking about it as well.

( The tea shop had been perfectly pleasant, but he remembered now Joe had indeed acted peculiarly. As Ken came to sit with him, Joe briefly greeted him before continuing to look past him. Exactly as if waiting for someone... Then came the moment when Joe realized what was going on. After ordering his tea, Ken texted a series of photos of Wormmon to Joe while speaking about them. "... He sleeps in such strange positions sometimes, rather like a cat might; it's incredibly adorable. What of Gomamon, has he done anything cute today?" 

For a long moment Joe had stared at his phone then slowly lifted his gaze to Ken. "What?"

"I asked about Gomamon?"

Joe looked to the phone. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry or if he would visibly react at all. It would be even more embarrassing if Ken knew it was embarrassing. He brought his elbows to the table and his interlaced fingers over his mouth to help conceal whatever might get expressed. "Yeah... Gomamon is cute."

Joe had in fact thought it strange Carly had wanted to get lunch after all she had said to him a few days prior to making plans for the tea shop. The break up had come out of no where since he had believed he had been texting her daily (while "Ken" complained about being ignored yet appeared at his side at school every day no matter how much he had really ignored "him" and "his" creepy advances which did not at all align with the interactions at school).

How long had this been going on? Then he remembered... when Tai had handled his phone... 

When Ken smiled, it hardly mattered anymore how this all had happened. He was beautiful... How had Joe never noticed until now?)

When the two entered a cafe, a familiar voice pervaded the air. "... Your beauty is beyond compare with flaming locks of auburn hair with ivory skin and eyes of emerald green..."

Joe looked to Ken, softly singing along as he caressed violet hair for a moment, "Your smile is like a breath of spring, your voice is soft like summer rain, and I cannot compete with you, Jolene!"

They rounded a corner and found the source of the singer. Yolei at a karaoke machine, voice cracking and words slurring. "And I can... yeasily ubderstand how yuo coudl... easiliy take my man..." When she noticed the two new arrivals, she dropped the microphone. "You! You GAY whores!"

"Yoouu tell 'em!" Carly encouraged, adding more vodka to their coffees.

"I'm so SICK of STUPID boys!" Yolei exclaimed. "Tell me why I'm not enough for you, Ken! When I would have done anything in the world for you!"

Ken stepped back, murmuring to Joe, "I don't know what's going on..."

Yolei continued, "You have got to be... the worst boyfriend ever... you don't even have the decency to cheat on me with a GIRL!"

"What? When was I your boyfriend? What makes you think this? What have I possibly done to indicate this assumption?"

Now Yolei began to sob, attracting more attention to them as she yelled incomprehensible insults between gasps. When Ken caught the most vulgar of them, his eyes narrowed, and she dragged herself back on stage to strum an out of tune guitar. "Jolene... Jolene... Jolene.... Joooleeeennne..." 

Joe jumped when Carly made it known her presence had crept up behind him. He cringed away from her hand on his shoulder as she grinned darkly, "You're going to regret this... And once you're sorry, it'll be too late to get me back... I'd rather have a guy with a motorcycle anyway..."

"Who are you?!" Ken demanded.

"Carly Carmine. You're pretty cute, Ken, but you WILL suffer for what you've done to me. I'm glad you're famous. As a reporter, I can make your life a living hell."

When Ken spoke again once they were out of there, he remarked, "I thought you said she was smart."

"Well, yes, she's a journalist." 

"Pseudoscience!"

"I guess..." Joe took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if you're mad. They were both drunk, they might not even remember having seen you..."

"Of course I'm mad!"

"What did Yolei say to you?"

He couldn't answer. Joe took his hand to squeeze.


	5. Every Now and Then I Fall Apart

When Joe awoke the next day, he searched for his phone caught somewhere in his blankets, expecting to find messages from Ken once it was recovered. Instead, Carly had sent: will you tell ken Im sorry

Tell him yourself. 

Joe’s reply was met with silence. So she regretted speaking so harshly to Ken, but apparently not enough to do anything about it herself. Any doubt or shame he might have felt about the whole ordeal dissolved into relief he had gotten away from her. He knew he had hurt her, but Carly and Yolei’s behavior was inexcusable. 

As she read that reply, Carly’s remorse evaporated. Fuck him. Fuck both of them. Why had she ever liked Joe anyway? He didn’t even play any trading card games.  
Carly crossed her room, pulled out a drawer, and grabbed a camera. She had some photos to develop...

Joe’s good morning texts to Ken were not returned. Still, every hour or so he sent another text. Although he tried to space them out, he was growing more desperate as hours turned to days. For some time he quit for a while. He didn’t want to take it personally; he wanted to tell himself there was a logical reason; that Ken’s parents confiscated his phone; hey maybe he broke his wrist and doesn’t like texting with the opposite hand? No. That was dumb. He could have called him if that were the case.

Call him. Right, he could try that. Unfortunately, calling Ken went directly to voicemail.  
"Hey, I’m… really worried about you, you haven’t ignored me before… please tell me if you’re okay… um… I miss you. Let me know what’s going on… if there’s anything you need? … Bye... I… love you.”

He flipped his phone down and sighed.

\---

“And that’s my plan for getting into Yamato’s band and becoming the coolest rock star ever!” Daisuke announced to his lunch table. “I know, I know, Matt’s a cool guy, but he just isn’t that good of a musician, you know? I guess he depends on his looks, but his hair isn’t even big like mine, it’s just shiny. I’d really carry the band--what should I do when he gets all jealous of me?”

“Hey Daisuke!”

Daisuke said as he made room for his new friend, “You can call me Davis!”

“What happened last week on Digimon? I missed it again.”

“Aw hell, that sucks, buddy! Takato and Guilmon were taking on DARKLIZARDMON when YAMAKI showed up with the boys from HYPNOS and cut the battle short! They took DarkLizardmon back to the lab to run all these CREEPY tests on her, and it LOOKS like she’ll only be the FIRST in a LONG LINE of DOOMED digimon! THEN Henry’s dad got a VISITOR from his PAST… I wonder what HE has to do with all of this?! Yamaki finally got approval from the dudes upstairs to use this program called Juggernaut to control the supposed DIGI-INFESTATION! I don’t know what that means -- It sure doesn’t sound good!”

Davis felt a hand grab onto his shoulder from behind and heard, “DAVIS-”

This was of course startling; Davis, already pumped up from talking about Digimon: Digital Monsters, jumped from his seat, turning to his opponent with an abrupt kick and exclamation of, “KONOHA DAISENPU!”

Joe fell backward and Davis sweatdropped. “Uh… sorry… Joe…”

Grabbing his glasses from the floor and returning to his feet, Joe sighed. “You watch too much tv… Anyway: where is Ken? Have you heard from him?” It was midway into the next week, and he still didn’t know what was going on with him. Izzy had not a clue either, and he’d run all the algorithms he’d needed to come to the conclusion that, well, wherever Ken was, it wasn’t the Digital World. The D3 wasn’t anywhere unusual. 

Davis shook his head no. “He hasn’t been in class or anything. I guess he’s sick.”

Sick… He felt as though Davis wasn’t far off. Joe slipped his glasses back onto his face as the foreboding word made him envision a very mentally ill Ken staying in his room as the darkness grew heavier.

“Alright,” he told Davis, “if you do correspond with or see him, will you ask him to call me?”

“Sure thing! You don’t think there’s anything seriously wrong… do you?” Davis asked.

“No. Like you said, he probably has a cold or something. Could I use your D-Terminal?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it right here!” Davis unzipped his backpack, searching for it as he withdrew a can of spray cheese, a can of spray butter, an emergency ramen bowl, his pliers, extra spiderman underwear, some Digimon cards, a handful of potato chips, a pokeball, a Konoha headband, a lighter, grass stained soccer socks, a slice of pizza in a bag-- AH! There it was; he handed Joe his D-Terminal then tied the headband over his forehead. “You can take it with you and give it back tomorrow. Want some chips?” he asked, feeling at the bottom for remnants to pick out.

“No, thank you…”

\---

He couldn’t help but to snoop through the D-Terminal archive. He spent the day reading through several years worth of emails between Davis and Ken. He’d already known how special that relationship was--the role Davis had played in changing Ken’s life--but the temptation to delve into the messages was too interesting and beautiful to pass up. 

He found that although Ken wrote about his brother, he rarely brought up the Kaiser in the emails. This was reasonable; Davis had helped him cope with what he’d done and to feel forgiven and loved, but he would always carry the guilt, even if its impact fluctuated. This displeasure in thinking about it made it all the more significant when Ken did mention it.

The last mention of it was almost a year ago. There was a gap in the message timeline, followed by Davis checking that Ken was okay all while implying he had been gone, because he’d told Ken he missed him. This combined with the date gave Joe pause… It was too close to the current date. 

His impulse was to ask Yolei. As the president of the Unofficial Ichijouji Ken Fanclub, she would know when Sam had died, but obviously he didn’t want to talk to her anymore than he wanted to talk to Carly. 

It was probably common knowledge on that site though. He could learn a lot about Ken on there, but the creepy factor had kept him from looking before. Maybe reading all the emails was inappropriate… but that was different! Completely different. Something was wrong with Ken, and he needed clues. 

Alright… A Yahoo search brought up an infinite amount of Ken fansites. How would he narrow it down? There were too many calling themselves by some variant of the Unofficial Ichijouji Ken Fanclub, so he added Yolei’s name to the search string and found it that way.

There was a page of whatever Yolei had determined was a collection of important dates in Ken’s life. Born September 27th, 1991, that one Joe knew. The others were an assortment of achievements: when he’d set the world record for Donkey Madness, when he’d balanced the world’s biggest checkbook, a long list of soccer scores, chess championships, academic team, article publications, discipline altering arguments with mathematicians and links to subsequent interviews and awards… It was endless, but there was nothing about Sam. 

There was, however, a quiz for Which Ken Mood Are You Today?, a gallery of photos printed in magazines, a store to order a poster and other merchandise, and a forum. When Joe’s curiosity got the best of him, he perused the forum threads. It was more or less what he expected: some badly written reader insert fanfiction (did Ken know about this? Maybe he would show him when Ken was in a good mood--or... maybe not, the more of it he read) and photos uploaded by his stalkers in random places around town and at the soccer games. Going back to the fanfiction after he made an account, he sent in a reply: This is not a kink, this is a medical emergency. 

Under the guise of the name Yuki and an avatar picture of a female cousin Joe had, he created a new thread titled Ichijouji Osamu? The body message explained he was looking for information on Ken’s brother. As he returned to browsing other features of the website, he supposed he could have just gone to the library and asked for help finding the obituary--but what if Ken decided to call him back and asked what he was doing? He couldn’t lie to Ken! On the other hand, if he did call and asked what he was doing right NOW--it was easier to just say he was on the computer. Which wasn’t a lie. 

Okay, so if he were at the library he could say he was browsing, which he indeed could do while a librarian was navigating the newspaper microfilm-- BUT… he’d be out of luck if someone else were to find him and…

He was overthinking this whole thing. He could have just asked Davis if he knew when Sam died. (“Oh yeah!” he imagined Davis answering, “It IS around that time! I forgot! That’s so sad. Poor Ken. I’ll bring him some ramen. MAN this would be a BAD TIME for someone to cause him to have an emotional breakdown, HUH!”) Now he was in TOO DEEP… His Ken Mood of the Day resulted in a picture of Ken side eyeing a reporter in a weary disdain of the regretful situation he’d gotten into.

He returned to the forum, hoping someone would answer him and he could be done with this investigation. No, not yet. Then he saw a new thread, KEN AND HIS GAY LOVER, by username CarlyOnTheScoop.

Close it. Close it, Joe. LEAVE NOW.

But he couldn’t. All he could do was stare and click.

And stare. And stare. And inwardly die.

She had to have been hiding in a bush to get these photos. They were dark; she hadn’t risked a flash; but it was light enough from a distant streetlamp to make it obvious it was the two of them sharing a soft kiss, expecting to have a pleasant farewell moment--alone.

Ken hadn’t been comfortable with anyone knowing. And now Carly was probably selling photos to a tabloid and wrecking his public image. Joe had never felt so sick. Thinking of Ken devastated… angry… 

“And it’s my fault…”

Gomamon lifted his head. “What’s your fault?” He jumped off the bed and approached Joe at his desk.

“Everything. I was careless. It was stupid. How could I do this to him…” Joe didn’t care to fully explain. Gomamon wouldn’t understand. Joe held onto him nonetheless, pressing his face into his fur, until he picked up the D-Terminal again. Oh, god. What if he emailed Ken and Ken answered BECAUSE he thought it was Davis while still ignoring all the messages from JOE? He couldn’t bear that. Maybe he shouldn’t send one through it to avoid that pain…

This was exhausting. He went to lie down with Gomamon, staring at the ceiling until he eventually took a nap.

He wouldn’t recall much of the flurry of dream fragments apart from the overarching stress, a prevalent image of a black ring in gloved hands, and a glimpse of blue eyes shadowed with desperate determination.

It was a call from Izzy which woke him up. 

“Hey, I didn’t get the chance to talk to him, but Ken’s with Mimi. I told her we were concerned, and she reminded me yesterday was Sam’s death day then wanted to take him shopping to try to get his mind off it.”

“Did she… know him?” Joe inquired.

“No. I did. Not well--he was older than me, but we met at computer camp.”

“Does Ken know this?”

Izzy pondered for a moment before answering, “No, I don’t suppose I ever mentioned it… I didn’t want to depress him by bringing it up… I thought highly of Sam. I learned a lot from him.”

Joe stated, “I think he would like to know that someone he knows now knew Sam.”

“I remember Sam was so irate when Oak Technology discontinued product development!” Izzy laughed at this. “Everything I know about the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm is from him!” He sighed in longing at the place Windows 98 held in his heart.

“You should tell Ken.” Joe encouraged.

\---

If nothing else, it was a productive day as long as she got Ken out of the apartment, but she was determined to get his mind off Sam! “I always feel better when I get new clothes!” Mimi explained as she dragged him to the mall. Ken didn’t have the best sense of fashion. He’d been wearing the same purple sweater since middle school.

“But I like my purple sweater.” 

“I know you do, but let’s add to your wardrobe!”

He supposed that was fine. He could do with some more variety than his school clothes, soccer clothes, and some sweaters. Did he even own any fun tshirts? No.

“Do you have any skinny jeans?” Mimi asked as Ken followed her into a store.

“I don’t have any jeans at all.”

How was this possible? Why was she the only one helping this boy? “It’s a basic staple!”

“The discomfort is impractical.”

“They’re not supposed to be uncomfortable! Oh, look at these purple ones! Your color~!”

“I don’t need purple pants…”

“Sure you do! Just try them on and see!” Mimi grabbed a measuring tape she looped around Ken’s waist for a moment. Then as she approached another rack, Ken wandered over to another section in which he was pleased to find Kaiba Corporation merchandise. He selected a couple different styles of tshirts and returned to Mimi to collect the pants she had accumulated.

“Are you dressed yet?”

When he emerged from a dressing room in the purple jeans and a black, sleeved shirt with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon surrounding the KC logo, Mimi clapped her hands together in delight. “The nerdy shirt suits you! I’ll have to get one for Izzy. He loves that company too.”

“I don’t want the purple pants.”

“Alright, try the black, if you don’t want an exciting color! Are you getting the shirt?”

“Yeah.” Ken held up another one, and when Mimi determined the one he was wearing was better, she cut the tags off. 

“I’ll take the tags up to the register so you can wear it now! Try this jacket on with it,” she advised, pressing one into his hands. She stepped past him to grab the sweater. 

“What are you doing?”

She exited the dressing room, breaking into a dash to throw it away. “You don’t need it!”

Horror rushed over him.

She must have forgotten he was a soccer star. He caught up with ease despite the challenge of moving in the skinny jeans and smacked the sweater out of her hands while shoving her into a wall, exclaiming, “THIS IS ALL I HAVE LEFT OF SAM!” He took the sweater back, returning to the dressing room as he demanded, “LEAVE ME ALONE!” He slammed the door and changed back into the sweater and school pants.

\---

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t stand feeling so useless...” Joe said, opening the bottle of tea Izzy had handed him.

“It’s going to be okay. In fact I have postulated that given the…” Izzy’s gaze shifted when his phone lit up with a call. “It’s Mimi!” 

Over the next few minutes, Joe very much doubted it would ever be okay, given Izzy’s concerned countenance. 

“We need Davis. If Ken’s having some emotional meltdown, Davis is our best bet in handling him.” Izzy stated.

Joe rose from his seat, coming to stand beside Izzy to hear Mimi say, “I have to find Ken. He shouldn’t be left alone feeling like this! I didn’t know… I didn’t know. I just wanted to take him shopping! I didn’t know!”

Izzy replied, “No, you stay there, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Call Davis!” she exclaimed before ending the call.

Joe inquired, “She didn’t know what?”

“I don’t know! Something about his sweater? Ugh!” Izzy shook his head, getting up to roam around his office as he called Davis. “He isn’t answering! Of all the times that he isn’t answering, are you kidding me…” He kept calling, while glancing to Joe and telling him, “Would you contact Kari and tell her to send a message through the D-Terminals?”

“Oh. I uh. About that…”

“About what??”

“I have… his D-Terminal, so…”

Izzy sighed. Joe really wasn’t helpful today, and what a strange feeling that was! 

Joe returned to his seat. Izzy paced. Tentomon buzzed. 

“Why do you have his D-Terminal,” Izzy began to ask after a long moment, until Davis finally answered.

“I got it! I got it! AGH!” Davis exclaimed, slamming a door and pressing against it to keep it closed.

Izzy wasn’t amused. “Oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting something? If I call you, it’s for a reason, and you need to pick up!” 

“I’m grounded!” Davis explained, “STOP IT! Sorry, it’s my stupid sister. My mom took my phone away, and Jun’s being a BUTT.”

Izzy replied, “You can’t be grounded! You’re the one best at dealing with Ken! He’s unstable--”

“It’s not MY fault!” said Davis.

“IT FUCKING IS,” Jun screamed through the door as she fought it, trying harder to force her way in to confiscate the phone.

Izzy heard Davis shriek, then the call abruptly ended.

\---

Earlier that day:

Dolce and Gabbana  
Fendi and Madonna  
Caring they be sharin  
All their money got me wearing fly  
Whether I ain't askin  
They say they love my ass in  
Seven Jeans  
True Religion  
I say no  
But they keep givin  
So I keep on takin

Davis was having a grand time twerking in Jun’s room. Turning it up louder, he jumped around carelessly, a smile on his face that mischievously widened when he happened upon his sister’s diary. If she didn’t want him to find it, she shouldn’t have left it out under her bed inside a makeup bag, right? 

Photographs of Yamato stained with lipstick prints slid out as he opened it. Davis howled with laughter as he collected them, then after returning them between pages he turned to read the entries. 

When Jun got off work early, she was mortified to find Davis with that journal in one hand and his phone in the other, her Black Eyed Peas CD haphazardly lying on the floor while Nelly played.

So take it off like you’re home alone  
You know dance in front your mirror while you're on the phone  
Checkin your reflection and tellin your best friend  
Like, “Girl I think my butt gettin big.”

“What are you-- WHO are you TALKING TO?!”

Davis quit jumping. “Telling Tai about what you want Matt to do to you. Don’t interrupt, it’s rude! Anyway,” he turned a page, “that dream-- AHH!” He screamed as Jun threw her purse at him.

“You’re so retarded!”

“OH I’m teLLING MOM you SAID THAT!”

“GO AHEAD ASSHOLE!” She knocked the phone out of his hand, and Tai kept laughing.

“Horrible word,” Davis said, “I can’t believe my own sister would--”

“Get out! MOOOOMM!”

\---

Back at the mall:

Ken was calm when Mimi caught up, having been sitting alone near a fountain.

“I went ahead and got the clothes for you…” Mimi said. He slowly lifted his forlorn gaze as she set two shopping bags at his feet. Ken nodded numbly in acknowledgement, and she continued to speak. “I’m sorry,” she reached to touch his hand, “If I knew, I never would have--”

Ken waved his other hand. “It’s fine.” He didn’t want to hear she was sorry. He didn’t want anyone’s pity or their excuses. Why bring the ordeal back up at all?

“It’s not fine. I hurt your feelings, and that isn’t right. I love my friends!” She squeezed his hand and moved to sit beside him. “It’s a nice sweater.” She patted his arm. “It looks good on you.” 

Ken ultimately embraced her, and after a few minutes of rest they navigated past more shops until she pointed out some indigo-toned sunglasses. “Those are so cool!” She rushed in to lift them from the window display and hand them over to Ken. “Try these on. Protect your beautiful eyes!”

He slid them onto his face and turned to a mirror. They were nice indeed, and soon he was smiling again as they explored the store. 

“Take a picture for me!” Mimi passed Ken her phone and posed with a pink hat. He took the picture, and she sent it to Izzy as she headed to the register. After she purchased the hat and some makeup, Ken bought his sunglasses.

“Your most important soccer game is this weekend, right?” Mimi asked on their way to the shoe store. “Do you need new soccer shoes?”

“That’s correct. No, mine are fine. Are you going to actually watch this time? Where were you last game?”

“I’ll be there! I got distracted!”

“By Izzy?”

Mimi giggled. “Hey, look! Oh!” She stood before a display table of boots. “These are perfect for you!”

Ken’s smile faded. 

She pouted, “Don’t you like them?”

“No. I guess…” he said uncomfortably. “Yes. They’re… fine.”

Mimi didn’t understand why they made him nervous. “At least try them on.”

Ken quietly found his size and sat down.

“They’re really cool.” Mimi assured him as he zipped over his calf. He nodded a little, tightening the lacing and securing the embellishing strap buckles. “Well, how do they feel?” She smiled sweetly.

They felt like the power he had wanted to forget.


End file.
